The State and Development in EthiopiaHumanities Press, 1992 - 177 pages This book is about misguided development. It shows how a state-dedicated development strategy can destroy the productive capacities of people and their means of livelihood. It is a major new account of Ethiopia's contemporary socioeconomic and political history, and its future development problems and prospects. Ethiopia's most recent history has been marked by a fusion of famine, ecological disaster, and massive poverty. This despite the country's considerable resources: fertile land not yet under intensive cultivation, grazing land underused, and enormous water resources poorly exploited. Little research has been done to explain this incongruity. Girma Kebbede fills in this gap by providing a thorough examination of major socioeconomic and political factors that have kept the majority of the Ethiopian population poor and extremely vulnerable to adverse natural phenomena. The post-revolutionary political and socioeconomic transformation of Ethiopia resulted in the establishment of a highly authoritarian state controlled by a small bureaucratic elite that retained power through force and intimidation, and appropriated surplus by virtue of its control of state power and major sectors of the economy. The author argues that, as a result of the state's ill-conceived development strategies and priorities, and its intrusiveness into all aspects of social and economic life, the country was thrown into a perilous economic condition, with social dislocation and political instability. This book will be of interest to development policymakers, environmentalists, development aid donors, and non-governmental organizations involved in development activities in Africa, as well as to undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in economics, political science, geography, ecology, sociology, and demography. |
From inside the book
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Page 35
... lacking and various corporations have struggled just to maintain 1974 production levels . 13 The lack of new foreign investments and spare parts for old factories is partially a legacy of the nationalization without compensation of ...
... lacking and various corporations have struggled just to maintain 1974 production levels . 13 The lack of new foreign investments and spare parts for old factories is partially a legacy of the nationalization without compensation of ...
Page 72
... lack of fallowing , cultivation of land of inferior quality , and clearing of incredibly steep hillsides . Fourth , in order to supplement their meager income , peasants were forced to engage in ecologically destructive activities ...
... lack of fallowing , cultivation of land of inferior quality , and clearing of incredibly steep hillsides . Fourth , in order to supplement their meager income , peasants were forced to engage in ecologically destructive activities ...
Page 75
... lack of precipitation that triggers it , but by the lack of political commitment to develop adequate food distribution systems . 58 The human suffering and devastation that resulted from the famines of the early 1970s and 1980s in ...
... lack of precipitation that triggers it , but by the lack of political commitment to develop adequate food distribution systems . 58 The human suffering and devastation that resulted from the famines of the early 1970s and 1980s in ...
Contents
Dictating Development in the Agrarian Sector | 11 |
The State and the Industrial Commercial | 33 |
The Politics of Ecological Degradation and Famine | 55 |
Copyright | |
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Addis Ababa Addis Ababa University agencies agricultural Amharic areas Arsi Awash River birr capital cities commercial country's crops cultivation cultural degradation Derg ecological economic environment environmental Eritrea establish Ethiopia Ethiopian refugees export farms forced forest Gedaref Gojam Gondar government's Hararghe hectares highlands Horn of Africa households housing Ilubabor income increased industrial instance Institute International investment kebele Kefa Khartoum labor lack land reform large-scale lives MEISON ment meters military million northern region Office organizations Oromo overwhelming majority ownership peasant farmers peasantry percent political population problems programs provinces Rahmato refugee community regime Report resettlement result Revolution rural scheme sector settlements Shashamane Shewa shortage Sidamo small-scale social soil southern Soviet Sudanese surplus Survival International thousands Tigray Tigray regions Tigrayans tion trees UNHCR United Nations urban centers urban refugees villagization Welega Welo women refugees World Bank York